RECORDS HINT IRAQI WOMAN’S DEATH NOT A HATE CRIME

Search warrant records obtained Wednesday in the beating death of an Iraqi-American woman show a family in turmoil and cast doubt on the likelihood that her slaying was a hate crime.

Shaima Alawadi, a 32-year-old mother of five, was apparently planning to divorce her husband and move to Texas when she was killed, a family member told investigators, according to the court documents.

The records obtained at El Cajon Superior Court also reveal Alawadi’s 17-year-old daughter, Fatima Alhimidi, who called 911 to report the attack, was distraught over her pending arranged marriage to a cousin.

A search of Fatima’s cellphone records shows that while she was being interviewed by investigators hours after the attack, someone sent the teen a text message that read, “The detective will find out tell them (can’t) talk,” the affidavit states.

Fatima and her mother were the only ones at their El Cajon home on Skyview Street when the attack occurred about 11 a.m. on March 21.

Alawadi’s husband, Kassim Alhimidi, had reportedly left to take the couple’s younger children to school, although police state in the March 27 affidavit that his whereabouts had not yet been confirmed.

Fatima told El Cajon police that she heard her mother squeal, and 10 seconds later heard the sound of glass breaking, the affidavit said. She told police she thought her mother had dropped a plate. Ten minutes later, the daughter said, she discovered her mother lying unconscious on the ground near a computer and called 911.

A neighbor reported seeing a skinny, dark-skinned male running west from the area of Alawadi’s house. He was described as being in his late teens to early 20s, 5 feet 7 inches tall, 150 pounds, wearing a dark blue or black hooded sweatshirt and carrying a brown doughnut-shaped cardboard box.

Alawadi died at a hospital three days later.

An autopsy noted the assault was “extremely violent” and showed Alawadi had at least six hits to the head, with at least four skull fractures. The injuries were possibly caused by an object similar to a tire iron, according to the records.

The sheriff’s crime lab determined a threatening, handwritten note found near the victim was a copy, not the original, the records state.

Authorities have not made public the contents of the note, but Fatima and other family members have told reporters that it ordered the family to go back where they came from.

Police have said the note indicates the possibility of a hate crime but have stressed they are exploring all possibilities. The family told police a similar note was left at the home in the weeks before the attack, but it was not kept or reported to police at the time.

The possibility of the attack being a hate crime has reverberated around the world, especially in the Muslim community, and prompted supporters to hold vigils denouncing bigotry.

El Cajon police have said little about the investigation since a March 26 news conference, saying they have no suspects. They declined to comment on the contents of the search warrant Wednesday. The FBI is assisting in the investigation.